Question about the South -- Do gas and alcohol really mix?

[prolesunited]

I thought it was VERY strange that you could pick up your beer, wine and even hard alcohol at the same place you fill up your vehicle with gas.

Is it just the South that they do this or is it prevalent out West as well? Does this not just encourage drinking and driving? Have there been any movements to stop the practice? Do you think this is a good idea?

[kwolf68]

1. In some places

In the south you can get your gas, your booze, a gun and some shotgun shells.

[KCDem]

2. that's how it is in the midwest as well.

So it's not just rednecks and biggots, it's hicks as well.

And I say that from the bottom of my rednecked, biggotted, hick heart.

:hi:

Actually, some places I've been have drive-thru liquor stores (IL in particular).

[GOPisEvil]

3. Pshaw....

...in Texas we have DRIVE-THRU LIQUOR STORES! :P

But, yeah, all the 7-11's, and places like it, sell beer and gas. I thought it was that way everywhere. :shrug:

[underpants]

9. NC and Ohio too have drive thru's

Hell in WV they have liqor stores IN the 7-11. Talk about one stop shopping.

[Ripley]

4. Is this another south bashing thread?

In Ohio they have drive-through beer stores. Open even on Sundays.

[GumboYaYa]

5. This is just getting ignorant.

What is this, pile on the South day? That occurs all over the country. Many parts of the South are actually dry counties where they sell no alcohol at all.

I don't mind dealing with honest misperceptions about real issues, but ignorant nonsense like this is just ridiculous.

[prolesunited]

19. It really wasn't intended to be

a South bashing thread and I'm sorry you feel it is "ignorant nonsense." I really had not seen this before and was honestly curious. Please point out to me where I "bashed" the South.

I am adamantly opposed to drinking and driving and see this as a public policy issue, not a Southern issue. FWIW, I am equally opposed to drive-through liquor stores.

[GumboYaYa]

21. It's simple.

This is a phenomenon that occurs all over the country. Just because you may have seen it in one place in the South does not mean it applies to the whole region. The thing that ticks us Southerners off is the way that people see something in one place and decide it applies to all Southerners. A few minutes to educate yourself and you would never had made such a broad statement.

Anyone who cared to really look at the issue would recognize that the South is the bible belt and many states in the South have some of the most restrictive liquor laws that exist. There are a large number of counties and parishes in the South that sell no alcohol at all.


<ON EDIT> The South bashing is the condesceding way you ask your question of Southerners. Of course alcohol and driving don't mix, but I guess us ignorant Southerners haven't realized it yet like the enlightened Northerners have.

[commander bunnypants]

6. Outer Banks

It is called a Brewthru


DDQM

[supernova]

28. HA, never heard that expression before

:thumbsup:

In NC, you may be able to buy beer and wine at the same place you get your gas, but you better not have an open container in the car. You can get pulled over. :P

[underpants]

7. Having lived in MD and been in PA. I think it's odd not too be able to

Pennsylvania's system is the single dumbest thing I have ever seen.

[jody]

8. Absolutely, add a quart of alcohol to each tank of gas and get

better mileage and performance. :evilgrin:

[short bus president]

10. varies by state

in NC, "hard liquor" is sold only through the Alcoholic Beverage Company, so when you hear people talk about going to the ABC store, that's what they mean. Wine and beer can be bought in grocery stores, and "screw-top wine" and beer can be gotten in convenience stores.

In TN, only beer was available in grocery and convenience stores. Wine and liquor had to be purchased at specialty wine and liquor stores.

[tnlefty]

30. And no set-ups, mixers or anything else can be sold in TN liquor stores

I used to moonlight in my stepfather's liquor store and out-of-staters had a hard time comprehending that part of the law. I wish I had a hundred bucks for everytime people would ask about toothpaste, gum, ice, etc. AFTER I had recited that part of the law to them.

[underpants]

11. What's really odd is NJ and not being able to pump your own gas

I thought I was getting carjacked for a second.

[Chico Man]

13. One of the many reasons I hate NJ

Most of the reasons are car related. The remainder are mostly people related.

[Chico Man]

12. Umm, you can do this in Rhode Island

And most other New England states - except if it is Sunday.

[disgruntella]

14. in Montana, some bars offer "to-go" cups

That's what I've heard, anyway. (I can't drink anymore.) I know Cody, Wyoming has a drive-through liquor store too.

Drinking and driving is pervasive here, I don't know if it's worse comparatively. It makes no difference where the alcohol is sold. I think the only way to stop drunk driving is to take keys out of drinkers' hands, but I have no idea of how to implement that practically.

[Boudicea]

15. Re GumboYaYa's comment ...

Many parts of the South are actually dry counties where they sell no alcohol at all. True: Moore County, TN, (Lynchburg, Jack Daniels' land) is a dry county. WTF?

Being from TN, I was surprised to see hard liquor for sale in grocery stores in other states.

[Avalux]

16. How about a drive thru

for margaritas? There's a mexican restaurant in a tiny town in south Texas where you can drive up, get your margarita and drive away. Not sure if it's legal, but they say it is as long as it has a lid. Comes in 2 sizes; 16 oz. and 24 oz. If you want it salted they hand you packets of Mortons. AAhhhhh - only in Texas.

[SoCalDem]

22. There was a drive-thru "package store" in my home town

package stores are a dry state's (KS) answer to liquor stores..:)

[KCDem]

17. in defense of the South, we have drunk bumps!!

Help for the lightly-intoxicated driver. :evilgrin:

[catzies]

18. You forgot to add AMMO and BAIT

[myomy]

20. Actually, too much alcohol gives you gas...

.

[SoCalDem]

23. Why not have a branch bank inside a gun store???

One stop shopping for sure :)

[izzie]

24. In the 50's when my husband was stationed in the South........

You could get beer at a drive-in. Yar they would bring it to you in your car.

[Ripley]

25. See, that is such an exaggerated generalization.

In the South...

Where? Not here in Alabama. The South is a big place with great variation in alcohol laws. Now would you say "In the north we can buy pizza at any Shell station?" or would you say "In (insert home state here) we can buy pizza at any Shell station."


In every small town in Ohio there are beer drive-thrus. And yes, that means, not leaving your car, hence they bring it to you.

[Iris]

27. not to mention it was THE 50s!!! - Pre-MAD days

[geniph]

26. You can buy beer and wine at gas stations in Washington state

hard liquor is only sold at state liquor stores.

Definitely NOT a phenomenon of the south alone.

What blew ME away was Las Vegas - you can walk out into the street with an open container, a cocktail glass, whatever, and no one bats an eye!

[deadeye]

29. why do you think this encourages drinking and driving?

Should you only be allowed to walk to the beer/liquor store?

[Ripley]

31. Exactly.

And what's to keep me from drinking in my car if I bought alcohol at any other place?

[DemoTex]

32. It wasn't illegal to drink and drive in Texas until fairly recently.

I remember convenience stores, in the 1980s and early '90s, having big barrels of iced down beer. You would buy one or two and they would put them in little beer-can-size paper bags called roadies. During the rush hour on Houston's I-45 or the Eastex Freeway, every third or fourth driver would be sipping from a roadie bag. DUI was illegal (0.10 BAC threshold).

They later changed the law to allow passengers to drink in a moving vehicle, but not the driver. If stopped or at road blocks, drivers just handed their beer to a passenger.

Now Texas has an open container law prohibiting open alcoholic beverages in the passenger compartment and a 0.08 BAC threshold for DUI. Altruistic progress? No. The federal government mandated the change on pain of losing federal highway funding.

[ohmyman1]

33. booze and cars

why do you think neckcar (nascar) is so popular in the south

[prolesunited]

34. First off

my apologies to anyone from the South that I had inadvertantly offended because no offense was intended. Perhaps I did not phrase my subject line appropriately. If you check my posting history I certainly do not operate on that level of bashing other groups, well except for Repugs and Freepers ;-). If anyone finds this thread that offensive, I have no problem requesting that it be locked.

If you look at the original post, I clearly asked what the laws in other states were as well. Perhaps I was being intellectually lazy by not looking up the alcohol sale laws in every state before posting this query. I just thought with so many DUers here from all over the country, it would be interesting to get firsthand viewpoints.

I think it has been very enlightening to see the other practices that take place in other states.

Anyway, I have to go to work now and won't be able to get back to this later so please don't misinterpret my silence.

[geebensis]

35. Here's the deal:

Or at least, how I see it from my view through the knothole...

Your typical gas station operates on VERY thin margins on the gas. Sure, they raise the price of gas every time a camel farts in Saudi Arabia, but in general the markup for gas is 5-10%.

Contrast this with 45-50% markup for convenience store type merchandise.

Gas stations learned a long time ago that they could sell cigarettes, beer, chips, etc. and make a whole lot more than they could on gas. People HAVE to buy gas. So they stop, and while they're there they buy some other stuff.

Twenty years ago 7-11 didn't sell gas. Twenty years ago Amoco didn't sell beer. They are both aiming for the same thing.

Re the south: Any place where a retailer can sell gas AND beer legally is a place where they will. This is not a southern thing. If you have a problem with the combination of gas and beer you need to change the law. Not impossible, but you will be up against a VERY organized lobby of business owners if you try.

Just my .02.

mm

[cmf]

36. Not only in the South.

However, the south (specifically Louisiana) is the only place I've ever seen drive-thru daiquari places.